Page 92 - Pentateuch - Student Textbook

8. During the Year of Jubilee property was returned to people who had sold it. True False

9. God promised rain and good crops if the people were obedient. True False

10. Anyone could make a special vow of an animal or property to the Lord. True False

11.5 Let’s Personalize this Lesson…

The need for forgiveness is universal and personal. All cultures, even those untouched by the
Bible, have customs developed to rid a people group of the taint of sin. Every person has been
given a conscience that records words and deeds, that speaks with an accusing tone of hurtful
words and deeds.

Dyak elders [in Borneo] watch in a huddle as craftsmen apply finishing touches to a
miniature boat. The craftsmen hand the boat to the elders, who bear it carefully to the
edge of the river near their village. While the entire population watches, an elder selects
two chickens from the village flock. Checking to make sure both chickens are healthy, he
slays one chicken and sprinkles its blood along the shore. The other chicken is tethered
alive to one end of the deck of the little boat.
Someone else brings a small lantern, ties it to the opposite end of the deck and
lights it. At this point each resident of the village approaches the little boat in turn and
places something else, something invisible, upon the deck, midway between the shining
lantern and the living chicken. Ask a Dyak what he has placed between the lantern and
the chicken and he will reply, “Dsoaku!” (my sin).
When every resident has placed his or her dosa upon the little boat, villagers
raise it carefully from the ground and wade out into the river. Then they release the
boat into the current. As it drifts downstream, Dyaks watching from the shore grow
tense. Elders stand chest-deep in the river holding their breath. If the little boat drifts
back to shore, or hits a snag and overturns within sight of their village, the people will
live under a pall of anxiety until the ceremony can be repeated next year. But if the little
boat vanishes around a bend of the river, the entire assembly will raise their arms
toward the sky and shout, “Selamat! Salamat! Selamat!” (We’re safe! We’re safe!).
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In Christ, and in Christ alone, we have a message of good news that speaks to all peoples. We have a
Savior who can represent us, not as an animal but as a human (Heb. 2:14-17). At the same time he is
God’s precious Son, a sufficient sacrifice for anyone who would ever believe in him. A conscience can
only be stilled when it is connected to God by faith in the great sacrifice of Christ. “How much more,
then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God,
cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God (Heb. 9:14).”
“Leviticus ends on the priceless privilege of pure acts of adoration and devotion to one’s God,
motivated not by any promise of prosperity in return (in fact, you will be 20 percent poorer!), but simply
by one’s love for the LORD and his sanctuary. Chapter 26 has articulated God’s vows to people. How
appropriate it is that Leviticus follows this with a chapter about people’s vows to God. At the heart of

100 Richardson, 114-115.

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